


MLWS: Finding that which Won't Be Found

by PuellaPulchra



Series: My Little Winter Sprite [14]
Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012), The Guardians of Childhood
Genre: Darkness, F/M, Fear, Gen, Hiding, Reincarnation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-22
Updated: 2020-02-02
Packaged: 2020-05-16 17:28:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,706
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19322791
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PuellaPulchra/pseuds/PuellaPulchra
Summary: 3 months have past since Sophie froze Pitch in the Arctic. When news arrives that Pitch has broken free from his icy prison. When the guardians become divided on how to handle Pitch, it's up to the children to find the only person who might be able to turn Pitch back into the man he once was: Mother Nature.





	1. Chapter 1

It was six o clock in the morning on a Saturday, the majority of Burgess was sleeping, except for Sarah Jessup who was running full speed ahead to the house that lay just a few feet away from the pond.

Within seconds she was in front of the house and already unlocking the door with a key that Ms. Bennett had given to her before, her face full of excitement as she let herself into the house with a key that the family had given her several months before.

Within moments she was in the house up the stairs and in the room of her best friend she walked over to the bed her entire body buzzing with excitement as she started to shake her best friend: Jackie Bennett, awake.

"WAKE UP!" Sarah screeched shaking Jackie as hard as she could. "Wake up, wake up, wake up!"

The girl that Sarah was trying to wake up: A white haired girl with pale skin scrunched up her nose and hid her head under pillow. "Go away Sarah!" She whined. Half heartedly trying to smack Sarah's hand away.

Sarah wasn't deterred, she removed the pillow from Jackie's head. "Wake up, I have news!"

"I have a cell phone, you could have called" Jackie said sitting up to glare at her best friend.

"I did call; you wouldn't answer your phone" Sarah defended the smile never once leaving her face.

"I was sleeping" Jackie muttered taking a good look at said cellphone and read the time. She turned to glare at her best friend. "It's 6:03, Sarah!"

Sarah nodded having the decency to at least look a little ashamed. "But I have a good reason!" She exclaimed.

"What is all this yelling about?" A new voice called out.

Both started at the voice, Jackie's eyes widened at the sight of seeing the new figure there, and Sarah turned so quickly she very nearly fell off the bed however she caught herself just before that could happen.

Jackie's mother: Sophie Bennett was standing in the door frame wearing a pink bathrobe, her arms were crossed and she looked very tired and worn.

Sophie looked over at Sarah not the least bit surprised to see her daughters best friend there, even though Sarah had not been there the night before. Sophie started to message her temple.

"Sarah what are you doing here at 6 in the morning?"

"I'm sorry, Ms. Bennett but I had to come over as fast as possible to tell Jackie the good news!" Sarah said unapologetic, it wasn't like she was trespassing; Ms. Bennett had said that she could come by anytime.

Ms. Bennett sighed and looked to the ceiling. "And you couldn't just call her?"

"Jackie wasn't answering her phone, and I have to tell it." Sarah said starting bounce in her bed in anticipation.

Sarah yawned. She had been up late writing and hadn't gone to bed until 2 in the morning. "Do your parents at least no you're here?" She said both tiredly and exasperatedly.

Sarah looked sideways for a moment. "Well, they will when they find out I'm not in my bed." She said.

Sophie sighed and put a hand to her head. _Great_. "What was your news?" She asked instead.

Sarah smiled and started to speak. "Well you know how for March break my parents take a trip out to my grandmother's village?"

Jackie nodded her eyebrows furrowing in confusion on why Sarah was reiterating what was considered common knowledge. Every Christmas Sarah's grandmother came to town and spent a couple of days there, and on March Break the entire family would headed out halfway around the world to spend that time with their grandmother.

Jackie had met the grandmother, a few times and the woman was amazing. She was kind and attentive and like her own mother was always willing to listen to child, never dismissing them because they were children.

But what she and Sarah loved most about the woman where her stories. Every time she came she had a new story to tell. Both Sarah and Jackie could listen for hours as she weaved another tale. Sarah and Jackie's favorite always had to do with a bad man becoming good, or a fairy child learning to let go of the anger that had plagued her heart for years, or about a man learning the value of caring, or of a man who was able to tame even the wildest heart.

But everyone could tell that the grandmothers favorite story was about an immortal boy who befriended a little orphan girl and gave up his immortality to free her from an evil spell.

Sarah and Jackie had heard that particular story so many times they themselves could recite it from heart.

"Well, my parents have decided after massive begging on my part to invite you and Ms. Bennett over to grandmother over to her place this year."

Jackie's eyes widened and all of a sudden her anger at being woken up 2 hours earlier than she would have liked was forgotten as she jumped out of bed and hugged Sarah.

March Break had always been the loneliest time for Jackie her best friend was always out of town this time of year, visiting relatives and family friends.

Now however she could come with Sarah, instead of staying inside waiting for her friend to come home.

"No just wait a moment, I haven't given the ok."

Jackie's eyes widened her bottom lip jutting out as she tried to gain sympathy. "Please? Can we go mamma please? You've met Sarah's grandmother, you know what she's like, please?"

Sophie looked down and sighed. "I'll talk to them find out how we're getting there and how long the trip is."

Sarah shrugged. "We'll be taking one of my father's travel methods" She said. "Or we can use one of Jackie's snow globes that she got for Christmas."

Sarah shook her head with a smile. "I keep forgetting your family knows more about the guardians than I do, and I dated one of them."

Jackie and Sarah looked slightly disturbed about the idea of Sophie and Jack dating before deciding not to talk about it.

"So can she come?" Sarah finally asked.

Sophie smiled. "Only if I get to come too."


	2. Family Dinner

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack comes over to have dinner with Sophie and Jackie.

It was around 7 o clock at night when Jack turned up. He had been out spreading as much winter as he could before spring came. Which would start to arrive in a few days' time where his appearances would have to start to become less and less before he disappeared all together for the rest of the year.   
  
That was always what he hated about being the Spirit of Winter. The days where he couldn't go back to the place that he couldn't consider home. He had to stay away because heat especially summer heat was deadly to him he couldn't come by because doing so could quite literally mean his death. It sucked royally but there wasn't much he could do.   
  
Though it did make him wonder how Jackie survived the heat, the heat had to make her uncomfortable … she was part winter spirit, so it would make sense that the summer sun would hurt her.   
  
He knocked on the door to the Bennett household. Ever since he had found out he had a daughter he always made a point to at least show up for dinner.   
  
The door opened to reveal Sophie she smiled when she saw Jack. "Hey come on in" She said opening the door fully and stepping aside to allow to step inside.   
  
Jack no longer wore the hoodie and brown frayed trouser but instead wore a blue t-shirt with a black jacket. Covering his legs were blue jeans that were slightly frayed. His feet were still bare, having never quite gotten used to wearing shoes on his feet.   
  
He looked older, not quite like a father but more like an older brother that had come home from college for the weekend.   
  
Jack sniffed the air. "Smells good what are we having?"   
  
Sophie smiled. "Breaded chicken, with mashed potatoes" She said before heading to the stairs.   
  
"Jackie your father's here" Sophie called up.   
  
Jackie hurried down the stairs and smiled at Jack (though Jack could tell that her smile was a little awkward). "Hi dad" She said. The word came out of her mouth awkwardly but Jack still appreciated the attempt.   
  
"Hey Jackie" He told his daughter. "How's your day been?"   
  
Sophie smiled and headed to the kitchen to allow father and daughter to talk.   
  
"It's been good" Jackie said.   
  
"Oh? What did you do?" Jack asked her.   
  
"Sarah came over this morning and we talked and spent the day playing in the ice palace." Jackie said.   
  
"Oh cool" Jack said feeling very awkward. Usually when kids saw him, they were overjoyed and would tell him everything, but with Jackie it was a bit like pulling teeth. "What did you and Sarah talk about?"   
  
Jackie looked up at her father. "She's invited me and mom along to go to her grandmother's place."   
  
Jack looked at her surprised. "Oh? That seems exciting."   
  
Jackie for once seemed to lose a bit of her nervousness. "Yeah, Sarah's grandmother is super cool, she always has these cool stories to tell, and she has this amazing ability to speak like a gazillion languages, I mean Sarah can speak some but her grandmother can just…" She trailed off staring at Jack who was looking at her surprised at how much she was talking. "I mean she's cool."   
  
Jack sighed.  _Well, so much for finally getting her to open up._ He thought.   
  
"That sounds awesome" He told her instead. "Where does her grandmother live?"   
  
Jackie pursed her lips her eyebrows furrowed in thought "I think she lives-"   
  
"Dinners ready" Sophie called from the dinning room.   
  
Jackie smiled at Jack and practically ran over to the dinner table to start eating.   
  
"Careful Jackie that's hot." Sophie admonished.   
  
Jackie sighed and nodded she held her hand over the meat and after a few seconds steam stopped coming off it.   
  
"You've been practicing" Jack said impressed.   
  
Jackie nodded a little uneasily. "Uh huh" She said playing with the crystal necklace on her neck.   
  
Sophie piped up at that point. "So Jack, where did you go today." She asked, saving Jackie from some more awkward conversation.   
  
Jack thought about it while snapping his fingers over his food to make his food room temperature. "Visited Russia today, spent some time in Siberia, than dropped into Canada for some fun."   
  
"Siberia?" Jackie asked intrigued momentarily forgetting her shyness. "How was that?" She asked then quickly looked back down at her food.   
  
Jack smiled at hearing his daughter address him, and started to explain Siberia and how beautiful it could be especially when it was covered in frost 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If it seems awkward between Jackie and Jack it's because it's supposed to feel that way.


	3. Flight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jackie and her father go out side to wait for Sarah to come by so they can play, Sarah and her brother come by and they get into a snowball fight.   
> Jackie and Jack become closer.

  
"Can I go out and play?" Jackie asked both her parents once she had finished eating.   
  
Sophie and Jack turned to stare at each other.   
  
Jackie sighed, ever since Pitch had attacked her both her mother and Jack had been wary about letting her go outside with out at least one other person with her be it day or night.   
  
They weren't a couple, not in any sense of the word, and as far as Jackie was aware, the conversation about that particular subject had lasted about a sentence or two and never brought up again. Yet even though they weren't a couple they were still able to talk without words. It completely unnerved her.   
  
"I'll just be beyond the pond" Jackie said. "With Sarah." She finished knowing that at the very least saying that would get Jack on her side. Jack had taken an immediately liking to Sarah to which Jackie wasn't surprised Sarah was more like Jack that Jackie could ever hope to be. Jackie wasn't jealous, that just so happened to be the truth. Both were mischievous, fun loving, and fiercely loyal to the people they loved and their families.   
  
It would make sense that they would gravitate toward each other.   
  
Jack turned to Sophie. "It is just beyond the pond." He told her.   
  
Sophie sighed but finally nodded. "Ok, but Jack has to go with you." She said.   
  
Jackie knew better then to argue with her mother about that so she just nodded and pulled out her cell to call Sarah as she got up from her table.   
  
"Hello" Sarah giggled in the back ground Jackie could hear some calming music that suggested that she was sitting in her father's study.   
  
"Hey, Sarah" She said as she and Jack left the house. "I'm heading out to the ice Palace want to come by and play with me?"   
  
"Yeah, I-AHHH" She screeched the last part so loudly that Jackie had to hold the phone away from her ear. Jack turned his head to stare at Jackie in concern having heard the scream as well.   
  
"You ok?" Jackie asked only a little concerned.   
  
"Yeah, my dad's just being dad" In the background, she could hear a middle aged man laughing loudly. "Anyway I'm right in the middle of learning something new from my dad, but I'll be out as soon as I'm done ok?"   
  
"Great, I'll see you soon." Jackie closed her phone.   
  
"Sarah coming?" Jack asked.   
  
Jackie nodded. "She's in the middle of something, she'll be out as soon as she's done." She told him.   
  
Jack nodded but said nothing at that and they continued to walk together in silence.   
  
  
Jackie sat on the stairs of the ice palace her hand on her cheek as she waited for Sarah to show up. She could have spoken to Jack like she had at dinner but she didn't know what to say. Being around him made her nervous for years she had heard of him and his amazing talent. How he was her father, and had never come by to see her. She had thought he was just a jerk who abandoned his mother for a decade and then to find out that not only was he not a jerk but had actually been kidnapped the day of her birth it made her feel guilty and awkward, and on top of that she knew he would have to leave in the spring time. It felt awkward being in his presence when she knew that any amount of time she had with him would be temporary.   
  
Thinking of that reminded her of Sarah her father was an archeologist and was constantly leaving the country maybe Sarah would be able to help...   
  
Jack stood in front of Jackie watching her unsure of what to ask, say or do. Communication between the two of them had gotten better, there had been a moment in time where Jackie was unable to speak in his presence instead just communicating him through nodding and shaking her head. Yet, it wasn't as good as he wanted Jackie very rarely willingly spoke to him; only speaking to him when he asked her a question. That question that she had asked him over dinner had been something rare and almost unexpected and had hoped that she would continue asking him questions but after he had finished answering him she had gone back to staring at her food in silence.   
  
Just as the two of them were thinking these things two snowballs sailed through the air and hit Jack in the cheek the shock of being caught unsurprised caused him to fall to the ground. He was just getting back up when he saw his daughter Jackie get hit in the face as well.   
  
The two of them turned to see Sarah and Jonathon leaning against a tree, another snowball already in each of their hands. Both of them were sporting a 'what are you going to do about it?' look on their faces.   
  
Jack and Jackie both turned to stare at each other, a mischievous smile appeared on their faces as they both thought the same thing.   
_  
It's SO on!  
  
_   
Sarah and Jonny looked at each other, worried, before ducking behind a tree right before it was pelted with snowballs.   
  
"Any ideas?" Jonny asked Sarah. Sarah's reply was a raised eyebrow, to which Jonny rolled his eyes. "We need snow for this and we're going to run out if we stay here too long."   
  
"There's a snow room in the ice palace" Sarah said looking beyond the tree right at the palace before ducking to avoid getting hit.   
  
Jonathon turned to glare at Sarah. "The 'Palace' is currently being barricaded by the snow twins."   
  
"There actually father and-" Sarah cut off when she noticed that Jonathon was glaring at her. "Ok, Ok I have an idea."   
  
Sarah bent down and collect a snow ball before snapping her fingers, timing just perfectly that it was camouflaged by the sounds of the snowballs hitting the trees. With in moments a raven flew down and landed on her shoulder.   
  
Instead of crowing like she normally would have done, Sarah instead held the snowball in her hand and pointed to the father and daughter duo. Afraid that if she actually did any more than that she would alert Jack and Jackie to what she was doing. Jack may not have understood however Jackie would have gotten the hint almost immediately.   
  
Nyx nipped her ear affectionately and took the snowball in its claws and flew off. For a few seconds nothing happened then they heard cries of indignation as Nyx dropped the snowball on Jackie, both Jackie and Jack looked up in surprise.   
  
Jonathon and Sarah took their chance and ran straight for the ice palace locking the door behind them. They weren't afraid of Jackie ruing the palace to get to them, Jackie had worked for months to get the palace exactly right she wouldn't ruin it just so she could beet her friends in a game.   
  
"Oh come on!" Jackie yelled at them once she realized what they had done.   
  
Sarah laughed as they ran through the castle to get to the room they needed.   
  
She pushed open the newest tower that was added and they dove in to the room. It was covered to the brim with snowballs and absolutely no other defining features to it other then that. The addition had been Sarah's idea believing that it would be more far that way since Jackie could create snow at will and Sarah would need a quick an easy way to get more snow when engaging in another snowball fight.   
  
"We need a way to get all this snow from here to the main window." Jonny said staring at the room.   
  
Sarah looked at him, a small smile on her face. "Any ideas Mechanic?"   
  
Jonathon's face slowly broke out into a huge grin. He reached into his pockets and pulled out a screwdriver, some gears, and a bunch of other materials that Sarah couldn't remember the names of. "Always" He told her.   
  
Jackie held a snow ball in her hand. "Come on out!" She yelled up at them. Sarah appeared with an arm full of snow balls and threw them at them.   
  
"Did your brother abandon you?" Jackie asked a smile on her face.   
  
Sarah laughed. "As if!" She said ducking another snowball that had been tossed in her direction. "He's in the middle of building something that will help take you guys down!" She said laughing.   
  
Jackie raised an eyebrow "Is that so?"   
  
Sarah smiled. As Jackie started to fly around the house to get a better view. However, Sarah in an attempt to distract tossed a snowball directly in his face temporarily blinding him.   
  
Jack wiped the snow off is face, and Jackie took that opportunity to pelt Sarah with some more snow balls.   
  
"Gahh, Jonny are you almost done!" Sarah asked as one snowball hit her in the face, and another hit her bare neck, she could feel some of the snow dripping down her shirt making the rest of her body feel cold.   
  
"Yeah hold on!" Sarah's brother could be heard all the way down to where Jackie was sitting and she started to float upwards tempted to see what was going on.   
  
Sarah looked behind her and ducked quickly Jackie was about to ask what was wrong when all of a sudden she was hit by a snow ball.   
  
Sarah crawled back to Jonathon. "Really? 3 rocket launchers?" She asked him eyeing the contraptions they were located around the palace each one pointing out a window. A conveyor belt led the snowballs to the middle of the foyer before splitting off into 3 different directions into each of the launchers, that fired off in completely different directions depending on the movement and sounds that it sensed and heard. "That's subtle. And completely under representing your abilities I thought dad taught you better than that." She told him teasingly.   
  
Jonathon shrugged as he scooped more snow onto the conveyer belt leading to the launchers. "I just built the first thing that came to me."   
  
Sarah rolled her eyes but smiled instead helping Jonathon scoop more snow into the rocket launcher.   
  
  
Jackie should have been worried when she noticed that Jonathon was there. Jonathon had the amazing skill to make anything out of anything. Alone Sarah was formidable but could be beaten add her brother to the mix and the two were unstoppable. With Sarah's uncanny knack for speaking nearly any language cupped with her ability as a pickpocket and Jonathon's ability to make just about anything, there were very few things that could stop them when they set their minds to it.   
  
Jack flew up to the north window deciding to brave the contraption but just as he winded up his hand to toss a snow at the two children inside the snowball turned and hit him square in the face.   
  
Jackie laughed unfortunately one of the contraptions fired at her hitting her square in the face.   
  
Jack started to laugh at her getting hit and then the launcher hit him in the face. Before anyone knew it both father and daughter were on the ground laughing as the' snow launcher' kept attacking.   
  
After a few moments of the launcher attacking them Jack finally was able to get a good shot at one of the launchers and the whole thing broke down. Sarah and Jonathon's eyes widened at that but Sarah was not ready to give up. There was still enough snow in the snow room and she tossed snowball after snowballs as jack and Sarah flew into the room.   
  
Unfortunately the room by that point was almost empty so Sarah Jonathon had to quickly surrender.   
  
"OK, Ok You win!" Sarah said Jackie laughed once she had finally stopped laughing.   
  
Once they were out of the castle Sarah checked her watch and winced when she found out the time.   
  
"Uhh Jackie it's almost nine" Sarah asked.   
  
Jackie groaned. "But I was having so much fun!" She said.   
  
Sarah laughed. "Yeah I know" she said then whispered. "Had fun playing with your father did you?"   
  
Jackie's eyes widened. "You…"   
  
Sarah's eyes twinkled before she nudged her brother. "Let's go Jonny, you and I have lots of packing left to do."   
  
Sarah and Jonny waved before Sarah turned to her brother "Race you" She said before taking off running.   
  
Jackie and Jack shared a look before Jackie shook her head laughing.   
  
Together father and daughter walked home. Their problems not yet fully resolved but perhaps they were little closer then before.


	4. Bed Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sophie puts Jackie to bed, Sophie reveals some guilt dealing with what happened in the first story, and in Eastern Siberia a woman named Kay get's a visitor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Rise of the Guardians or the Guardians of Childhood series.

Bed Time

Benett Household

"And then your father got on Santa's sleigh and waved at the children as the sleigh flew into the sky." Jack smiled as he listened to the story that Sophie was telling Jackie as a bed time story.

Jackie smiled a little as Sophie kissed her on the forehead. With in seconds gold sand entered the room and swirled above Jackie's head lulling her to asleep almost immediately.

Sarah slowly stood up and walked over to where Jack was standing. Jack didn't look at her instead just staring longingly at the girl he had known about for ten years but had only truly met her 3 months before.

"I don't want to go" Jack said referring to when spring came. "I only have maybe a month at most before I have to leave for the year."

Sophie put a hand on his shoulder. "I don't want you to go either, but everything will be fine, they always have been." She said. "And besides you will be back next year."

Jack looked down as he remembered his decade long abscence. "I am sorry" And he was sorry, sorry for leaving without saying goodbye, sorry for not coming back sooner, sorry for getting himself kidnapped, sorry for not trying harder to escape. He was sorry for everything.

Sophie shook her head. "Jack..."

Jackie turned to look at Sophie. "Had I just come by sooner..."

Sophie shook her head stopping that conversation before it went to far.. "No, don't do that to yourself, you didn't know he would try to kidnap you."

Jack looked toward his daughter his expression sad and distant. "I should have been here, maybe if I had been, our relationship would have been much better. If I hadn't been so scared of facing you again I would have known you were pregnant with my child and Pitch wouldn't have been able to catch me off guard; maybe I could have actually been able to fight off Pitch..." He leaned against the door burying his face in his hands. "I would have been here and able to actually help raise her."

Sophie didn't say anything for a while. It was true Jack shouldn't have been afraid to face her, he should have had more faith in her ability to forgive and empathize.

Yet Sophie knew she wasn't entirely blameless either, she should have realized that Jack not returning that winter meant that something was wrong, but Sophie being seventeen and still hurting from giving birth and several wounds that Jackie had given her in the months that followed her birth, while also trying to hide the evidence from her mother had taken it's toll on her emotional health and as result she had written Jack's disappearance off as him being ashamed of what they both had done.

Perhaps if she had taken Jack's disappearance more seriously she could have tried harder to get the guardians together sooner to find Jack, before Pitch had tried anything. Perhaps if she had been more insistent in trying to contact North ,Jack wouldn't have been held in captivity for as long as he was, and maybe just maybe he could have been helping her raise their daughter.

And maybe she wouldn't have had to do what she did in the arctic.

Thinking about how much blame rested on her shoulders alone and what she had to do to keep her daughter safe made her heart ache and quite honestly she did not want to talk about it.

So instead she spoke about the only thing she could, their daughter.

"She's just shy Jack" Sophie said instead not wanting to address how much pain she felt, and how much Jack's guilt just added to her own "And confused, don't give up on her, and I promise she'll warm up to you, infact she already is, you just need to give her more time."

Jack sighed. "Yeah, I suppose you are right." He said.

Sophie put a hand on Jack's shoulder before turning around and leaving to her own bedroom. The conversation had left her feel both emotionally drained and tired.

 

Eastern Siberia

A young woman with grey eyes and long auburn hair that was wrapped into a tight bun was sitting at her kitchen table, writing furiously in her journal when she heard someone knocking on the door.

The auburn haired woman looked up, walked over to the door and opened it. Her eyes widened when she saw a young woman who appeared to be in her early twenties, with black hair and a long face staring back at her, her eyes filled with tears.

"Em?" The auburn haired woman said confused as to what Em could be doing there so late at night. Outside rain started to fall heavily. "What are you doing here?"

"Kay somethings happened." Em said her voice choking.

Kay stepped aside allowing the woman inside her home. Em wasn't the type to break down crying for no reason, which means that something bad must have happened.

Once Em was brought inside, with a hot cup of cocoa in her hand, Kay sat down, her expression serious. "Tell me everything."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The ending scene of this chapter is in direct relation to what happened in the Epilogue of My Little Winter Sprite so if you don't remember I highly suggest you go back and read it.
> 
> As Always please review!


	5. In which seeing Santa so close to easter is worrying

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Title.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own ROTG or GoC

  
"Jackie!"

Jackie turned to see Sarah calling her waving her hand so as to be seen.

Jackie kissed her mother goodbye and tilted her head in Jack's direction before running off to join Sarah.

"Hey Sarah!" Jackie called. "Can't wait till next week"

Sarah nodded. "Yeah it's going to be great, it's full of children our age, so we will have people to play with, and the best part is everyone believes so you won't have to hide your powers." Sarah said eagerly.

"So they'll see my white hair?" Jackie asked hopefully.

Sarah nodded. "Of course they will."

"What's the town like?" Jackie said curiously.

Sarah thought about it. "Well as you know, it's full of inventors and inquiring minds, so you'll always see people making something. Even the children could be considered brilliant."

"More brilliant than your brother?" Jackie said remembering the 'snow launcher' he had built the night before.

"They make him look like an common in comparison" Sarah said seriously. "But don't tell him that, he gets really touchy about that kind of thing. He has an ongoing rivalry with the entire town."

Jackie giggled at that, as long as she'd known them Jonathon had always been obsessed with being better than everyone else.

"But don't they spend the entire day learning how to do that kind of stuff?" Jackie asked. "While we learn English, and history math and science, all that magic and languages you guys have to learn, you learn at the end of the day, for only an hour every night."

Sarah nodded. "Jonathon doesn't care" She said simply. "Personally, I'm glad I just decided to learn languages, if I had decided to learn the magics as well my brain probably would have probably exploded."

"But don't you know some magic?" Jackie asked an eyebrow. "I mean how else would you be able to convince the entire school about what happened?"

Sarah nodded "Oh I can do a little sure. Dad insisted I learn a little just in case. I just don't know as much as my brother does, he was the one who came up with the clever idea to connect his pockets to his room, as long as what he needs is in his room he can get it." She said.

Jackie's eyes widened. "So that's how he was able to build that 'snow' launcher" Jackie said surprised. "I'd been wondering."

"The real question is... has Jack been wondering?" Sarah asked looking a little worried at that.

Jackie shrugged. "I told him he must have taken apart some stuff from the other rooms, that we had some electronic equipment in the entertainment room, don't worry, I know that your grandmother doesn't want anyone knowing, though I don't quite understand why." Jackie looked at Sarah inquisitively. "I mean what's wrong with my dad knowing?"

Sarah sighed "It's complicated, My grandmother had a falling out with the guardians when my dad was young and she never got past it, that and my father was asked to keep a low profile so as not to attract Pitch Black if it comes out who my grandmother is and what our family is capable of... that wouldn't bode well for us."

Jackie tilted her head sideways. "But my mother Froze Pitch in ice just this past December surely it should be ok now to let them know."

Sarah sighed. "Dad also just doesn't want that kind of attention from the Guardians right now"

Jackie looked at Sarah confused "Why not?"

Sarah shook her head. "I really can't say. Besides grandma's reason is not my reason"

"What's yours" Jackie asked.

Sarah looked away not wanting to lie but really not wanting to tell the truth. "I don't want to talk about it"

Jackie put a hand on Sarah's shoulder. "Hey you know you can tell me anything right?"

Sarah looked into Jackie's eyes. So honest and open she knew without a doubt that anything she told her best friend would stay between them, that Jackie would not judge her for what had occurred between her and North.

But Sarah knew Jackie, Jackie would feel guilty about it, and that was not something Sarah wanted to bestow on the girl, not so soon after what happened with Pitch.

"Of course I do, but trust me it's something I can handle." Sarah said a smile on her face.

Jackie sighed. "Ok, if your sure Sarah."

Sarah smiled at Jackie relieved that she was letting it. "So can you not say anything? I mean if they ask you obviously I won't expect you to lie, but can you please not say anything, until then?"

Jackie nodded. "Of course." She said then looked up when something caught her eye. "Hey is that Santa Clause's sleigh?" She asked pointing to the sky where a sleigh and eight reindeer where flying by.

Sarah's eyes widened at seeing that. "Yeah it is! But what is it doing here? And so close to Easter?"

Jackie turned to Sarah worriedly a bad feeling in her stomach. "Sarah you don't think…" Jackie asked not even daring to finish her question. The last time Santa's sleigh was seen out and about so close to Easter Pitch was close to making all children stop believing in the Guardians.

Sarah looked at Jackie. "I'm sure he's just by to say hello to your mother, if anything's happened, we'll hear about it."

Jackie stared back at the disappearing sleigh the bad feeling did not disappear. "I hope you're right." 


End file.
